More, Keith (August 2001)

We Want More

[Bobo shares with us this vintage interview from 1997, around the time of Guitar Stories' release.]

There are musicians whose names ring a bell instantly, even if they haven't done anything important for years and years. Others are tremendously active but seem to have difficulty in reaching a big audience. In our day and times this will probably have something to do with the wrong piercing in the wrong place rather than being musically incompetent!

Without being world famous, guitarist Keith More is renowned in the business by all of his contemporaries as being a hell of a musician. In the past he's been musical director for Five Star (these kids had a bunch of million selling songs under their belt some years ago!), he was guitarist with, amongst others, Jaki Graham, Nick Heyward, Jan Hammer, Michael Schenker, Renegade Soundwave, John Wetton, Asia, where he replaced the legendary Steve Howe (Yes), and Arena, formed around the nucleus of Mick Pointer (original Marillion founder) and Clive Nolan (Pendragon, Shadowland, Strangers on a Train and a trillion other projects).

Keith was personally invited by Paul McCartney for a jam session, a feast which repeated itself a bit later when he was asked by Lenny Kravitz! Today he divides his time between his job as an endorsee for Ibanez, a session musician, and his very own solo career for which there seems to be a huge interest in the States! Regarding the release of his very first solo recording Guitar Stories, I had a very interesting conversation (as always!) with a great man, musician and friend who can be placed on the same level as Steve Vai, Joe Satriani or Steve Morse!

John "BoBo" Bollenberg: When did you become aware of your love for music?

Keith More: When I was six years old I found my brother's plastic toy guitar hidden beneath his bed. Although it only had three strings I managed to get some decent tunes out of it. When I was about ten my parents gave me my very first guitar: a smaller model of a classical guitar. From that day onwards I really started to focus seriously on music and the guitar in particular.

JB: Do you remember your very first "real" guitar?

KM: In the beginning I was given a couple of really cheap acoustic guitars next to a K-electric which was one of those guitars you could order out of a magazine. I also had a Les Paul copy. My very first "real" guitar I had saved every penny for and with the extra help of my parents I finally bought a Gibson Les Paul Custom: a dream fulfilled!

JB: Did you have musical tuition?

KM: When I was thirteen I met jazz guitarist Tony Conduct [?]. Even today the guy probably doesn't know what an impact he made on me. He was the man who really taught me everything from the chords to the arpeggios, from melodic minor to harmonic minor scale groupings. He was very strict and insisted that you knew the material he had taught you the previous week. So each week I made sure I knew all of the stuff he taught me the week before, before I went to the next lesson. His way of playing was so unique and interesting that, out of respect, I made sure I did exactly what he asked me to do.

JB: What kind of music were you into and who were your big influences?

KM: Next to a radio in the kitchen and one in the bedroom there was little music around at the More household! So I surely wasn't influenced by my parents huge record collection because they had none. Around the age of twelve I was given my own hi-fi because by then I had already proved my great interest in music. Before then I could play the occasional record on my brother's record player and that was vinyl from the Beatles and Procol Harum. I also remember having discovered Led Zeppelin's first album at around the age of nine! Because I was so curious I listened to the radio at night but due to "safety precautions" I had to hide it under my sheets in bed. Strangely enough, at the time late at night in Edinburgh and under the sheets, the only thing I could listen to was a jazz programme. When I was eleven my parents didn't understand where my great love for and knowledge of jazz came from!

JB: That love for jazz almost got you to become guitarist in Sting's band didn't it?

KM: That's right. As a musician, of course I made sure that all of the administrative hassle was taken care of by my management so for some time I didn't know what was going on. At one point they mentioned they got a call from Sting's management as Sting was interested in having me as his guitarist. Obviously we both like jazz so I'm pretty sure we would've had a wonderful time together. So I let my management negotiate and it was almost 99% sure that it would be me. I was thrilled! However, I didn't know that my management was asking an astronomical fee, so the deal finally fell through and they took Dominic Miller instead, who's been with Sting ever since! I was shattered and I quit that particular management there and then. Due to their greediness I probably missed the deal of my life. So if Sting is reading this: "Give me a second chance ... please!"

JB: Guitar Stories is the very first Keith More album. Why the long wait?

KM: As a guitarist I can do whatever it needs, that's not the problem. The reason for the long wait obviously was based around the doubt about my compositions. To be honest I had never tried it before. I didn't know what to do. I thought that fusion, which I discovered in the seventies, had already died. I was a bit saddened by this as I always intended that, should I ever make a solo album, it would surely be in the jazz, fusion direction. In the end I made sure it no longer concerned me and I started composing. Once I had a couple of songs ready I was able to compare. I could not back down, for it was music I had written with all of my heart. However it took some time before I met Mark Mondesir and Steve Lamb and found out we were on the same wavelength. It became something magical and a sign that I was doing the right thing after all.

JB: The record contains many different styles. What tickles your fancy or are you just satisfied if you can have your pick at various styles?

KM: I don't see music as a collection of various styles. For me classical music, funk, rap, soul, metal, etc. ... are all tiny parts of music and I make music combining all of these elements. Although I was raised on jazz I have to admit that every musical style gets my total attention. Every style that gives me inspiration is my favourite style of the moment.

JB: Can Guitar Stories be done live?

KM: From day one it was the idea to write some material that could be performed live. Before everything else I am a live musician! I love being in the studio, but I see it as playing live in front of a very selected audience, giving the best you can in order to put this on an album. We'll be doing live concerts very soon, the Planet Pul festival in Uden, Holland on Saturday 7th June being one of them, and I can guarantee you it will even sound better than on the album! The feeling of playing in front of a live audience is the best inspiration I know, and on top of that I can count on the great skills of sound technician Tracey Baldwin so without any doubt it will be a "hell of a night!"

JB: Where on earth have you found these superb, unknown musicians such as drummer Mark Mondesir and his brother Mike?

KM: I'm glad you feel the same way about these musicians because they are indeed some of the best you can get. Steve Lamb has been a friend of mine for a long time now, so that was no problem. Through Steve I had heard some incredible things about Mark Mondesir. Mark has already worked with John McLaughlin, Jeff Beck, Courtney Pine, David Sylvian, Brandford Marsalis, Larry Coryell and John Scofield. Luck was on my side when I heard that Tracey Baldwin was a good friend of Mark Mondesir. When she heard the demo for Guitar Stories she suggested getting in touch with Mark to collaborate on the album! Through her contact and enthusiasm I not only got Mark to work on the album but also his brother Mike. Mike was bass player with Neneh Cherry, Lenny White and Billy Cobham. Peter Vettesse (Jethro Tull, Simple Minds, Annie Lennox), Mike Stobbie (Sister Sledge, Boney M, George McRay) and Gordon Davies (Imagination, Right Said Fred) are good friends of mine. Steve Hamilton (Tommy Smith, Martin Taylor, Gary Burton, Percy Sledge) I have known for about five years. It was me who suggested that he should go to the Berkley College of Music. He took my advice and got his master degree. In fact they're all first rate session musicians and not players without a soul.

JB: Do you see Guitar Stories as a demonstration record?

KM: Guitar Stories is by no means a demonstration record, otherwise I would have used twelve different guitars and done the same amount of different styles. I can only record what is in my heart. On Guitar Stories I only used my favourite Ibanez. It's a model I have modified for my own personal taste and need. Basically I have used the same amplifier as well, which is a Vintage Marshall Plexiglass, so I have only used the instruments which I really like to make MY record!

JB: The album was made using a Tascam DA88, a digital 8 track. What has it got that other tape decks don't have?

KM: This is not completely true as the drums were recorded onto 24 track analogue two inch tape. Everything was then transferred onto digital the reason being solely the budget. This way we could record guitar and bass in the studio whilst we already had the drum parts. Afterwards keyboards were added by means of overdub. It's here that I used both the Tascam decks. Although I'm very impressed and happy with these superb Tascam machines and even if the sound was phenomenal I still decided to transfer the whole thing back to analogue. I don't know what happened, it might have been "crosstalk" or something else, but the end result sounded even better than what we had digital! Although I had 16 channels digital and 25 analogue at my fingertips I mainly had enough with ten tracks.

JB: Was it that important to "master" the complete recording in the famous Abbey Road studios? It must have been a very costly experience?

KM: This studio about costs for one hour what another studio costs for a whole day. By that time the entire recording had gone so well that I couldn't run the risk that something might go wrong with the mastering. I had already analyzed many masterings by Chris Blair and was sure he was the best I could get. Together with Teo Miller, who mixed the album, I then attended the mastering with Chris Blair. We have often suggested things to Chris but in the end he did the mastering. Looking back it has been a very expensive thing but worth every penny!

JB: Compared to the original demo some of the tracks have been placed in a different order whilst "Southern Mak" is missing altogether ...

KM: When the complete album was recorded it had something "mysterious" except "Southern Mak." This uptempo country song is in fact one long guitar solo which in the end didn't fit into the album's concept. The idea behind Guitar Stories is to make it a trilogy whilst I also have the idea to release either an EP or even a full CD of the outtakes, so maybe "Southern Mak" will be released after all.

JB: Are there certain things you would do differently now?

KM: If I had to do the complete album all over again today I probably would do everything differently. Not as regards the compositions but because I have become much better as a musician. The record was recorded a year ago which you have to approach as a diary: it sounds how I was as a person a year ago. I am playing daily to improve my skills. Sometimes I play up to eighteen hours a day, it's an obsession! Needless to say you get better and better as time evolves which would indeed mean that the album would sound different if it was recorded today.

JB: Will there be a sequel to Guitar Stories ?

KM: I have just told you that Guitar Stories will be a trilogy. At present I'm writing material for part two which is almost finished. After the release of the three studio albums there will also be a live album, so in total the entire project will include four CD's. Apart from my own stuff I still do some sessions as I still have to eat you know!

JB: You also have an endorsement [deal] with Ibanez, since '87. What can we expect here? There's also talk about a Keith More signature guitar. How important is such a thing in the life of a guitar player? What is your role in such a project? In what way can you contribute to make this guitar sound different?

KM: I have been an Ibanez man all my life, however in 1990 something nasty happened. At the time I had an endorsement for Marshall amps. By coincidence someone had asked me to try out a Valley Arts guitar. To please the guy I played just this once on that particular guitar. Someone took a photograph and that particular photo was used in Guitarist Magazine. For once in my life I didn't play an Ibanez, my photo got in a magazine with which the people at Ibanez were not at all happy about. The guitar I'm working on at the moment will be very much like the 540 Pro.

I have sufficiently studied the subject and know all of the parts, such as the different types of wood. Personally I would love to experiment with different types of wood in one guitar to see how it would affect the sound. For a Keith More signature guitar I think it's a bit too early. Budgets for endorsement are very low at the moment so I have to prove myself first before the people at Ibanez will give me this chance.

JB: You were already involved in the fine tuning of the 540 Pro Range. What exactly was your job?

KM: Mesacchi from Ibanez lived very close to where I lived and we spent many evenings together discussing neck profiles, body profiles and different types of wood. At my suggestion a couple of models were made and the two copies that I have differ from the ones you can buy in the store. My copies have Ultranecks, they are made out of a mahogany/maple construction and an ebony fretboard. So they really are unique as the actual 540 Pro series has been made differently.

JB: Which changes would you make to build the ideal guitar?

KM: As I have told you, the wood is the most important part. Even if you try out an electric guitar acoustically you will feel whether at all this guitar will do it's job. Right now I can't tell you which changes would make the ideal guitar because it's the result of years and years of experimenting.

JB: Which pick-ups do you use and which strings?

KM: I have two different sets of pick-ups on my guitar. On one I have a Humbucker and a PRS HFS2. On the other guitar it's Old Glory pick-ups. These were made by a certain David White and are based upon 1962 Fender Stratocaster pick-ups. Unfortunately these pick-ups are no longer available as people have broken into David's workshop and taken all of his material and tools. Luckily I have two sets because they really are the best pick-ups I have ever heard! I use Dean Markley Blue Steel strings.

JB: You were also involved with the design of the JMP Midi Preamp by Marshall? What was your task?

KM: After the complete amp had been designed all of the various channels had to be tuned. It was my task to tune "Overdrive 2." Whilst the people at Marshall know that I'm very much into vintage sounds they also know that I know a great deal about modern developments. They asked me to define the equalizing for the "Overdrive 2" and set the defaults.

JB: What is your dream of your all-time favourite band with whom you'd like to hit the stage one day?

KM: I'm very lucky for I'm already in that band what with bass player Mike Mondesir and drummer Mark Mondesir helping me out. Later maybe Peter Vitesse or Mike Stobbie might join. I am indeed a very lucky man to be able to hit the road with these great musicians because they are without any doubt the best you can find in England right now!

Discography:
Guitar Stories (1996)